The effect of rare earths (RE) ranging from 0.1% to 1.2%(mass fraction) on hot cracking resistant property of Mg-Al alloys was investigated. The results show that hot cracking resistant property of Mg-Al alloys remarkably declines with an increase of RE addition. The causes of the decline are as follows: First, grain coarsening of Mg-Al alloys caused by RE addition reduces the fracture strain required for hot crack initiation. Second, RE reduces the eutectic microstructure of MgAl alloys, and as a result, shortens the time that the feeding channel remains open, making it difficult to feed the alloy.Furthermore, RE elevates the eutectic reaction temperature, which leads to the decrease in the strength of the interdendritic liquid film at the late stage of solidification. Third, when α-Mg dendrites form continuous skeletons, the interdendritic Al11 RE3 phase tends to block the feeding channels and increases the difficulty of feeding. Last, the shrinkage ratio discrepancy between Al11RE3 phases and α-Mg matrix is prone to cause shrinkage stress and promote hot crack initiation.